Man held over Paris attack on soldier

French police have arrested a 22-year-old man in connection with the stabbing of a soldier who was on patrol in a crowded commercial area outside Paris.

This morning’s arrest came in the town of Verriere outside Paris, the interior ministry said.

The soldier was slashed in the throat by an assailant who came from behind as he was on group patrol in an area just outside Paris, where train lines converge on a busy shopping mall.

Saturday's stabbing came days after British soldier Lee Rigby was killed on a London street in broad daylight in a suspected terrorist attack that has raised fears of potential copycat strikes.

However, there was no immediate confirmation of any link between the two attacks, and the ministry drew no immediate links with radical Islam.

AP